Mikaela Shiffin, the 18 year old prodigy and phenom deemed the next Lindsey Vonn, is here to redeem the horrible first week of the U.S. Alpine Ski Team. There is no Vonn, and Julia Mancuso has consistently disappointed. With just one bronze after five races, perhaps Shiffrin will save them in the Giant Slalom Gold Medal Final tomorrow.
Eighteen-year-old American phenom Mikaela Shiffrin makes her Olympic debut in the event which will be televised during the hours of 7-10:30 CST Tuesday night.. Mancuso, who won this event in Torino, will also vie for a medal.
This is Mikaela Shiffrin’s first Olympics, but chillax. “I’ve been here before in my head for sure,” she said. “To everybody this is my first Olympics, but to me it’s my thousandth.”
Like most successful alpine racers, Mikaela Shiffrin started skiing young—at two years old, she was already practicing on plastic skis in her driveway. She’s frequently referred to as a ski prodigy. Still, her path to Olympic medal contender is atypical for most child prodigies. Though her parents, Jeff and Eileen Shiffrin, have ski racing backgrounds—dad raced for Dartmouth and mom races masters—Shiffrin’s meteoric rise toward the Olympics was not a blueprint planned years in advance. Mikaela started racing just because that’s what many kids who grow up near mountains do.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An MBA and Fulbright scholar, he’s also a frequent analyst on news talk radio; with regular segments on ESPN,NBC, CBS and Fox. A former NBC Chicago and Washington Times writer, he’s also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)